I was reading Taz_Zoee's post, and I have a similar problem so I figured Id post and see if anyone had any ideas.
I have 6 cats, and one of them has had a list of urinary problems. He had struvite (sp) crystals and was put on Science Diet CD and then Urinary SO. Irwin is now 4 and his problems started about 2 years ago, peeing blood, not able to pass urine, frequent squatting....I ran him to the vet and he had a blockage. This is when he started to spray.
I read that sometimes cats can associate peeing in the litter with pain so they start to go elsewhere. Since his diet change (he is now on a raw diet) hes had one "flare up" They ran a list of tests again and couldnt find anything (no crystals this time) and they sent us home with anti-inflammatories. The dr told me he would probably have these flare ups every once in a while for the rest of his life and they could be treated with anti inflammatories.
Basically I have very willingly spent thousands of dollars on his food and tests to find out what is wrong with him. Now since his initial diagnosis of this 2 years ago, he has continued to spray. Ive taken him to the vet over and over and we Xrayed kidneys, we done urinalysis after urinalysis, there is nothing wrong with his urine or kidneys now. The only thing they can tell me is the wall of his bladder is thickened. He is on supplements for that, but from what I can see, it hasnt made a difference. I have told the vets he is still spraying and they told me medically he is fine, its probably just become habit now.
Now heres where it gets interesting. Even though this is what started the spraying, I dont believe its medical. We were living in a 2 bedroom apartment, 6 cats, kind of cramped, and Irwin has become moody. He doesnt like cats near him, looking at him touching him, etc.
Sometimes if I hold him too long and he starts to growl, when I put him down (and hes done this numerous times) he will beat the **** out of any cat (or dog) thats closest to him. Its like hes goes ballistic, hes mad I held him too long and he has to take it out on someone, and then just like that its over.
Last night I heard a fight going on, and I got up and went into one of the bedrooms, and he had his mother underneath him and he was holding her by the hips and she was SCREAMING. Irwin was all fluffed up, I yelled and he went running out.
ALL of my cats are fixed. Their are 4 females, 2 boys.
90% of the time he is the most affectionate sweetest guy. But over the past whatever, hes become very grouchy and its kind of increased as the number of cats have increased.
I now have moved to NC, I have 9 rooms, plenty of space, and he is still spraying. Hes upstairs most of the time, not even near other cats. He goes in the cat litter to urinate 90% of the time, and I try and put them everywhere to encourage him to go in, but then there is always that time where he'll go into the corner and spirtz.
In my old home, we had LOTS of feral cats outside, and Irwin would sit on the window and look out at them, slamming his tail, and then he'd get up and spray the window sill....doesnt that indicate behavioral?
Now we dont have outdoor cats and we're in a completely different state. Why is he still doing it?
I found a spot on the wall in the dinning room and in my bedroom yesterday.
My new home is only 4 years old, barely lived in and I dont want to ruin it.
What do I do?
BTW- I had tried the Feliway plug ins last year. I had one pluged in, in my kitchen above the counter, and he actually sprayed the plug in....so I dont know how much that thing was LOL
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I would also try using Cat Attract Litter by Dr. Elsey which you can buy at Petsmart to see if this will help him start using the litter boxes again. When I had a similar problem this really helped me and I also added a few more litter boxes in different locations. My Storm is going to start taking Prozac because he's still aggressive towards his siblings and has become much more grumpy lately. I tried Clomicalm but it didn't agree with Storm and it made him too sleepy and lethargic plus he hated the taste. Luckily I don't have problems with spraying or peeing outside of the box any more. Good luck.
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